This project sets out to demonstrate that media coverage can degrade a country's image by using selective news without context. It uses the Netherlands as an example. It is a reaction to the frequent misrepresentations of Israel in many ways in major media, including those of the Netherlands.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

More than half of Moroccan young males between the ages of 12 and 22 have police files. One third of these are registered five or more times in the police’s HKS system. For young male immigrants from Surinam the figure is 43% and for young Turks it is 41%. The average for Dutch males of the same age group is 23%. In addition 5% of all Dutch girls of that age group have a police file. For girls from Surinam it is 17 % and for Moroccan girls it is slightly under that figure. This research was based on those born in 1984 and was published in the Tijdschrift voor Criminologie (Journal of Criminology).www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/7040652/__Helft_Marokkaan-se_jeugd_pleegde_misdrijf__.html

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Minister of Justice and the Interior, Ernst Hirsch Ballin (Christian Democrat), sent a letter to Parliament prior to the debate on anti-Semitism that took place last Thursday. The letter was vague and made no significant promises. One of the concrete suggestions was for collaboration to fight anti-Semitism amongst Muslim and Jewish organizations. The Minister suggested the Jewish Moroccan Network for this. [Comment: If any of his employees had looked on the Network’s website http://www.jmna.nl/, he would have found less than 5 items, the latest of which dates from the beginning of 2006. Checking on Google indicates very sporadic initiatives since then, usually one or less per year].Letter is not yet on the official Ministry website

Monday, June 28, 2010

In an unprecedented move the Central Joods Overleg (CJO), the umbrella organization of Dutch Jewry, sent a letter to the members of parliament on anti-Semitism in the Netherlands, shortly before the subject was to be debated there. The letter mentioned that Jews have to hide their identity not only in Amsterdam but also elsewhere. Children were confronted with aggression at schools and sometimes forced to leave because of it. It added that in certain schools the Holocaust could not be mentioned. The CJO also drew attention to the fact that hardly any Jewish activities could be organized without the community having to organize security, and that it may not be able to support these costs in future. The CJO added that the government had failed to remove the feeling of insecurity suffered by the Jews in the Netherlands.www.nik.nl/default.asp?oUrl=content_detail.asp?fld_pk_algListId=1589

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Elise Friedman, an expert in anti-Semitism at the Israel Information and Documentation Center (CIDI), has said that anti-Semitism in the Netherlands is a continuous destructive process and should not be presented as an epidemic. She points out that there was an increase in the number of attacks against visible Jews ten years ago. The lack of public outcry against this anti-Semitism indicated that society had already begun the process of its acceptance. In 2001 CIDI already noted that congregants of two synagogues were insulted and even threatened with knives by 15-40 year old Moroccans. Friedman adds that the Netherlands have made themselves look ridiculous internationally because they cannot protect their citizens of whatever origin.http://extra.volkskrant.nl/opinie/artikel/show/id/6070/Den_Haag_is_oorverdovend_stil_over_antisemitisme

Thursday, June 24, 2010

The Center for Information and Documentation about Israel (CIDI) has lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor against an anti-Semitic twitterer. He had sent tweets with texts such as “tuberculosis Jews are active again in Israel, if the Fuehrer had finished his work, this wouldn’t have happened and ‘sieg heil’.” This is probably the first time a complaint has been brought against a twitterer in the Netherlands. The police have identified the twitterer and told him to remove these texts. In a later tweet he said “I stand by my opinion even if I am not allowed to distribute it”.http://nos.nl/artikel/163680-cidi-doet-aangifte-tegen-twitteraar.html

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The faction leader of the Christian SGP party, Kees van der Staaij, has proposed in Parliament that a debate be held on the severe anti-Semitic incidents in the Netherlands. His proposal was broadly supported by other parliamentarians. Van der Staaij reacted after he had heard that Jews in the western part of Amsterdam have to visit a “hidden synagogue”. The building is not recognizable from the outside as a Jewish place of worship. Another issue he wants debated is Hitler salutes made by hooligans to Rabbis.www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/7016154/__Kamer_debatteert_over_antisemitisme__.html?sn=binnenland,buitenland

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

In a broadcast released last Sunday by the Jewish Broadcasting Organization (Joodse Omroep) it was shown how Rabbi Lody van de Kamp and two Jewish school pupils were insulted by various Moroccan youngsters in Amsterdam. A hidden camera followed them on their walk through neighborhoods such as Bos en Lommer, Osdorp, de Dapperbuurt and de Indische buurt. On one occasion a Moroccan youngster gave them the Hitler salute. An earlier broadcast by the Jewish Broadcasting Organization had shown that the situation is also serious in towns such as Rotterdam and Sneek.www.parool.nl/parool/nl/5/POLITIEK/article/detail/300523/2010/06/19/Asscher-voelt-voor-inzet-lok-Joden.dhtml

Monday, June 21, 2010

The Monitor for Discrimination on the Internet (MDI) has said that the Ministry of Housing, Neighborhoods and Integration has claimed, in reply to questions from Parliament, that the number of complaints received regarding anti-Semitism is showing a declining trend. It based itself, in part, on the data of the MDI. This is misleading as although the number of complaints and punishable expressions is stable, the number of punishable expressions against Jews in 2009 was far higher than in other categories.http://www.meldpunt.nl/nieuws/geen-daling-online-antisemitisme

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Ahmed Marcouch, a new parliamentarian on behalf of Labor, has suggested using Orthodox Jews (probably policemen dressed up as an ultra-Orthodox Jew) to serve as bait to catch anti-Semitic aggressors. He says that this is necessary because Jews in certain parts of Amsterdam cannot wear a skullcap without risk. The Center for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI) considers it a valid idea. Its director, Ronnie Naftaniel, said that nowadays “it is considered normal that people have to go with caps on their heads to hide their skullcaps”.www.parool.nl/parool/nl/5/POLITIEK/article/detail/300064/2010/06/17/Cidi-steunt-plan-lok-Joden-Marcouch.dhtml

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Harry Mens, a Dutch TV presenter and businessman, has developed a conspiracy theory purporting that Jewish politicians will control whichever government will rule the Netherlands. According to Mens, participants in the invented conspiracy are Liberal parliamentarian Uri Rosenthal – who has been charged by Queen Beatrix to investigate what government could be formed –Labor leader, Job Cohen, as well as his party fellow Lodewijk Asscher – the acting mayor of Amsterdam. They are conspiring to work for a coalition led by the Liberals and Labor. The Jewish community has condemned Mens and without explicitly saying so indicated that his conspiracy theory is an old anti-Semitic motif. [Comment: The claim is even more ironic as in the last decade Cohen has repeatedly stressed that his being born Jewish is utterly meaningless to him. To prove this he has bent over backwards to accommodate Muslim immigrants and often looked the other way when they committed criminal acts. Asscher has Jewish roots though he himself is not Jewish].http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/6954550/__Mens_onder_vuur_na_uitlatingen_over_joden__.html?sn=binnenland,buitenland

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Simon Wiesenthal Center issued a letter on Tuesday to EU Foreign Minister, Baroness Catherine Ashton, requesting the EU’s “intervention to investigate the rampant epidemic in anti-Semitic incidents in the Netherlands”. The letter mentioned that, among other incidents, during a commemoration ceremony in memory of the final transport of 3,000 Jewish children to their deaths bikers passing by shouted ‘Heil Hitler’ during the recitation of the mourner’s prayer. Hyves, the Dutch equivalent of Facebook, contains postings with numerous calls to “murder all Jews” and for “Hitler to finish the job”.http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/06/15/2739618/wiesenthal-center-asks-eu-to-interveve-in-dutch-anti-semitism

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

The NRC daily has published an article on anti-Semitism in Amsterdam which states that it has become the norm rather than incidental. There are six neighborhoods in Amsterdam where Jews cannot wear a skullcap or clothes which identify them as such for fear of attack. A rabbi who lives in one of the better neighborhoods says that he goes out on the streets as little as possible because he almost always is insulted by Moroccans who shout at him: “Hitler apparently forgot one”. The rabbi says that many Jews have similar experiences in Amsterdam. The monitor of discrimination on the internet found that half of the 577 punishable internet statements in 2009 were against Jews. The article also said that if the monitor would have looked carefully at sites for Moroccans in the Netherlands, they could have easily added another 1,000 punishable anti-Semitic internet statements. [Comment: This situation developed almost entirely under the Mayor Job Cohen who served from January 2001 until March 2010 shortly after which he became leader of the Dutch Labor party].http://brabosh.com/2010/06/13/antisemitisme-is-meer-dan-een-incident-het-is-weer-normaal/ (The original article appeared in NRC Handelsblad, 12 June 2010)

Monday, June 14, 2010

Elise Friedmann of the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI) has told the daily Reformatorisch Dagblad that after the Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla many tens of angry reactions were received. At least 10 of them were anti-Semitic, each of which refers to the Holocaust. An email and phone call of somebody said that “many gas chambers should be built.”www.refdag.nl/nieuws/binnenland/sabbatsviering_weesp_geschrapt_na_dreiging_1_484010#

Sunday, June 13, 2010

More and more schools are withdrawing from organized walking events due to the chaos there, as well as security problems and tensions. Dick Janneman of the North Holland Walking Association (NHWB) said that during the annual 4-day walking event in south Amsterdam children from the Jewish elementary school (Rosj Pina) are victims of aggression and insults. He said that this has happened mainly in the last five years and that “this is terrible but the reality of the situation.”www.parool.nl/parool/nl/4/2010/article/print/detail/298569/Chaotische-taferelen-bij-avondvierdaagse.dhtml

Thursday, June 10, 2010

The synagogue in Weesp cancelled its service last Saturday after the police informed members about threats received. The threats are believed to be related to the Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla. The chairman of the Jewish community in the town which is Masorti (i.e. Conservative) Nicky Cohen said that the synagogue has standard security but in this case it possibly would not have been sufficient. (Comment: This is probably the first time since World War II that a synagogue service had to be entirely cancelled in Western Europe. In 2006 in the Swedish town of Malmö once a service could not take place in the synagogue but it was then moved elsewhere.).www.nrc.nl/binnenland/article2560410.ece/Synagoge_schrapt_viering_sabbat_na_dreiging

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Gerrit Zalm, head of the ABN Amro Bank and former minister of finance, has said that it will be difficult for the government to retrieve all 30 billion euro which it paid to save the ABN Amro and Fortis Bank Netherlands. He said it is too early to say how much of the investment can be recouped. He also pointed out that some of the money was invested in the insurance company ASR.www.parool.nl/parool/nl/30/2010/article/print/detail/296959/Zalm-terugbetaling-staatssteun-ABN-onzeker.dhtml

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The synagogue in Amersfoort has been daubed with large quantities of red paint. No text or graffiti were added. The Jewish community has put in a complaint with the police. According to the police it is unclear whether this is vandalism or a targeted action.www.refdag.nl/nieuws/regio/amersfoortse_synagoge_besmeurd_met_verf_1_482185

Monday, June 7, 2010

The Dutch Parliamentary elections will take place on Wednesday 9 June. The platform of the Dutch Labor party (PVDA) is called “Everybody Counts”. The section on international affairs is entitled “The Netherlands in a Better World”. In it is a section on areas of instability in the world. It mentions in one line two areas of Africa. The only other issue named is the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, which gets 25 lines. It makes strong demands almost exclusively on Israel, recommending EU pressure on it to conform with these demands, with a few minor ones on the Palestinians. No mention is made of the promotion of genocide of Jews in the Charter of the largest Palestinian party, Hamas nor of the glorification of murderers of civilians by the Palestinian Authority. No mention is made in the program of the war in Afghanistan, in which the Labor party was the main proponent of withdrawal of all Dutch involvement before the NATO mission was completed. The Labor party leader is Job Cohen the former mayor of Amsterdam, whose grandparents on his father’s side were murdered in the Holocaust.http://nu.pvda.nl/verkiezingen/Verkiezingsprogramma.html

Sunday, June 6, 2010

The Dutch branch of the radical Muslim group Hizb ut-Tahrir has called on Dutch Muslims not to vote in the Parliamentary elections of 9 June 2010, saying “your participation in these elections will not stop the evil”. The organization says that no political candidate has anything to offer to Muslims, whereas by voting Muslims legitimize the results of the elections. Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international Muslim organization which strives for a single Islamic state. In many Muslim countries and some European countries the organization is banned. The council of Moroccan mosques in northern Holland has called upon Muslims to participate in the vote.www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/verkiezingen2010/6846557/__Campagne_Hizb_ut-Tahrir_tegen_verkiezingen__.html?cid=rss

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Amin Abou Rashed was one of the two Dutch participants in the flotilla of pseudo humanitarian activists. According to the Dutch intelligence services he is the leader of Hamas in the Netherlands. In various reports of these services he appears also under the name of Amin Abou Ibrahim. He worked for the Dutch al-Aksa Foundation, which is suspected of collecting funds for Hamas. He lost an arm in fighting against Israel. Rashed, who is originally Palestinian, has a Dutch passport and operates from Rotterdam.www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/6841211/__Hollandse_Hamasleider_was_erbij__.html

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

The special mobile unit of the Dutch police had to intervene in a pro-Palestinian demonstration held in front of the Israeli Embassy in the Hague. The intervention occurred after some of the demonstrators started throwing objects. Among the protestors was the Parliamentarian Krista van Velzen of the left-wing Socialist party.www.elsevier.nl/web/Nieuws/Nederland/267068/AntiIsraeldemonstratie-Den-Haag-loopt-uit-de-hand.htm?rss=true

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Salah Soltan, the founder of the American Center for Islamic Research was one of the speakers at a major congress on Islam in Amsterdam organized by the Federation of Islamic organizations in the Netherlands, attended by thousands of participants. He is also professor of Islamic Culture at the Al Khaleej University in Bahrain. Soltan is on record as saying that Jews murder Christians every year to prepare unleavened bread needed for the festival of Passover. He did not mention this subject during his lecture but confirmed to a Christian pastor who asked him the question in private that this was his view, specifying that this related mainly to Zionists.http://globalmbreport.com/?p=2907www.amsterdampost.nl/islamcongressen-29-mei-te-amsterdam/

Welcome to the Bad News from The Netherlands blog!

News coverage from Israel is often distorted if measured against the 'Code of Ethics' guidelines of journalism. The origins of “bad news” about a country thus lie with numerous foreign media. This project exposes one of many methods used.

“Bad News from the Netherlands” has raised major international interest since it appeared on the web in October 2007. Many thanks are due to all those who have contributed news, ideas and financing. Support us to expand this project.

Act against the biased media: start a “bad news” blog about another country. If you want to use this layout, please contact us at the e-mail address below.

Do It Yourself

The "Bad News Movement" is not a franchise, but consists ofindependent initiatives of which Bad News from the Netherlands is the first. Yet as the initiator of the movement, we would like to make a few suggestions to those who want to establish similar projects:

1. Always keep in mind the target of the blog: showing only negative items about a country makes its society aware of how some of their media distort the image of Israel.2. Focus on items from leading sources such as the government, major media, well-known institutions.3. Do not concentrate on one or a few areas. Deal with as many major aspects of the country as possible: government, politics, justice, media, culture, civil society, etc.4. Do not exaggerate issues beyond what is mentioned. A collection of bad news is bad enough without blowing up the facts. Let the facts speak for themselves.5. While one can draw part of the information from the more sensational papers, let them not dominate the blog.6. Do not emphasize ethnicity of people where it is irrelevant to the issue.7. When necessary, provide comments on issues which require it, but try to present the majority of issues without comment.